Influenza – Ebola

Is Influenza worse than Ebola?

Written on April 28, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Science News, World News.

Influenza Worse Than Ebola? Despite the heavy media coverage and widespread concern surrounding the Ebola virus, Americans face a more serious health threat — influenza or as what we like to call it the Flu. “It’s complicated. It’s exotic. It’s something you hear about on the news every day,” said Dr. Edward Waltz, director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at the University at Albany, of the...

Genetic Mutation Helps Explain Why, in Rare Cases, Flu Can Kill

Written on March 30, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Science News.

Nobody likes getting the flu, but for some people, fluids and rest aren’t enough. A small number of children who catch the influenza virus fall so ill they end up in the hospital — perhaps needing ventilators to breathe — even while their family and friends recover easily. New research by Rockefeller University scientists, published March 26 in Science, helps explain why: a rare genetic mutation. The researchers scrutinized blood and tissue...

Why Is Influenza Worse Than Ebola

Written on March 5, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, World News.

Despite the heavy media coverage and widespread concern surrounding the Ebola virus, Americans face a more serious health threat — influenza or as what we like to call it the Flu. “It’s complicated. It’s exotic. It’s something you hear about on the news every day,” said Dr. Edward Waltz, director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at the University at Albany, of the Ebola virus. “Objectively, the flu...

What You Need to Know About the Flu Vaccine

Written on February 25, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Personal Safety.

This year’s annual flu shot will offer protection against H1N1 flu (swine flu) virus, in addition to two other influenza viruses that are expected to be in circulation this flu season. A vaccine that protects against four strains of the virus will also be available, as will a high-dose flu vaccine for adults age 65 and older. As you can see there are many different flu vaccines and the general population believes that there is just one. This...

How Winter Gives Flu a Boost Could Be Key to Prevent Flu

Written on February 3, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, World News.

Linsey Marr, a professor in the Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, is obsessed with flu transmission. This time of year, she’s not alone. Hand sanitizers and cough drops abound, and banners outside drugstores and doctors’ offices proclaim, “Get your flu shot.” But this year, that vaccine will only reduce your risk of ending up in the doctor’s office with the flu by about 23 percent. The vaccine...

Mutating Ebola Virus Warning: Medical Microbiologist says it’s already changing

Written on December 9, 2014. Posted in Health News, Science News.

While the numbers surrounding the Ebola epidemic in West Africa are scary enough — the death toll is nearing 5,000, and a possible infection rate of 50,000 has been forecast —mutation, a single word, may be more worrisome than all of the virus’s epidemiological statistics put together. According to medical microbiologist Michael McCann, Ph.D., professor of biology and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Saint Joseph’s University...